Minivation

Sorry for getting back to you late! Just came back from an extended trip out to Texas. Yes, I've since slapped the switch assembly back on, and I'm glad to report it works well. It did take 2-3 flights to get the position adjusted to exactly where I want it, but after that it chirps a few degrees above critical AoA, exactly where it was before the switch broke.

I've taken a look at the G3X Part 23 STC IM as well as the Avidyne IFD440/540 IM and as with most things in aviation, there's a technical answer and a legal answer to the question of whether a Garmin PFD and Avidyne GPS can be interfaced to each other, and the two answers are a bit conflicted. The interface between any modern EFIS with various functionalities and a GPS navigator will be manifold. A series of ARINC429 channels transfers most of the flight instrumentation data while RS232 takes care of most of the auxiliary functions like drawing the "magenta line". In the case of the

Ditto... It's one thing to get an AML STC that shotguns across 600+ aircraft types for an EFIS or GPS navigator, but my experiences with ACO's and FSDO's is that they become much much more conservative once the subject matter pertains to something that interfaces with the aircraft flight controls. This is ESPECIALLY true in light of the 737MAX debacle that put the FAA under a microscope ever since. That said, this is incredibly frustrating for the short-body Mooney gang. At least some sort of follow-up or one-paragraph explanation on a blog post would have been appreciated.

Yes, replacing nav light bulbs are most certainly something the owner pilot can carry out provided that the task doesn't involve any crazy tooling or procedures (it doesn't). Most M20J nav lights use a half-dome type bulb (usually Type 7512-12) that you can easily purchase online (namely Aircraft Spruce). An easy method of identifying the bulb you have is to remove the bulb and look if there's any markings on it that may give you a hint of what it exactly is. As for determining if the bulb failed vs. something else ... one easy way is to look at the bulb's insides to see if the filam

I installed an AV-20 in a friend's M20C back in 2019 and ... it didn't turn out well. I felt really bad for him but after days of frantic searching I found that my Mooney install wasn't the only one having issues. Judging by their theory of operation (AOA = AHRS pitch angle - FPA [tan(VS/IAS)] things should have worked out OK, but using the aforementioned equation, I can only surmise that either the AHRS got messed up (despite my best efforts to "zero" the pitch out at level flight attitude) or the IAS is far off from CAS (I know dropping the gear messes with the static system considerably, bu

I've had the opportunity to fly both the 150 and 152 in their respective "nice" and "shitbox" states. The nice 152 was actually the AOPA 152 sweepstakes bird. The difference is phenomenal, although even the new ones have their limitations once you stuff 2 people inside. The thing is most 150/152 operators don't bother to take care of the smaller squawks (e.g. door catch, crazed windshield, mis-rigged throttle cable, etc.) and these all add up to a terrible flying experience. I'm checked out in the local FBO's 152 but I refuse to fly it because how badly looked-after it is.

Well done and thanks for sharing @201er! After about 60 hours flying the 201 I'm starting to feel comfortable really honing the landing technique in the Mooney, especially in terms of getting the touchdown point spot-on. A while ago I used to compete as a spot lander with NIFA and I learned a ton from that experience ... plus, it was a great feeling being able to consistently hit +/- 10ft as long as the weather wasn't ridiculously crazy. Albeit, this was in the Cessna 150 and 172 of course. After college, I started fly the PA-28 too, so after I got comfortable in that plane, I starte

Thanks for the Pirep on this, @Jakes Simmons. The hypothesis about the magnetized tubing is interesting - I'm curious how much of an effect that would play. I haven't installed an AV-30 myself, but I've heard plenty of reports from operations of just about every type (Cessna, Piper, Mooney, Beech, Vans, etc.) about the precession issue. My local FBO has them installed in their 172s and they've been battling the same issue themselves. None of the AV-30 manuals seem to reference any detailed operational theory so it really bugs me not knowing exactly what the source of this issue is.

At least this much is true. Operationally speaking, most people just say [City name] [facility] in their radio calls so for most pilots, I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal. However, the stupid part about this whole thing is that it's going to cost millions of taxpayer dollars to rebrand everything related to the airport and to re-mark all the signage on the road, just to name two of what's gonna need to happen. Of course, "millions of dollars" is pocket change in terms of government spending, but even then, why choose a name that is so polarizing? Regardless of political af

Im not as irked at the name changing itself as much as the fact that they keep naming these airports after politicians. I don't care if they're blue or red or whatever - I just don't like politicians, period. Who knows, Reid himself might get "cancelled" a few years down the road too. Just name it Las Vegas Intl and call it a day. Jeez.

If you ask me on the other hand, I personally like toggle switches better because I find them easier to actuate. They're also easier to source & replace compared to rocker switches, especially if the rockers were custom labelled. That said, the Mooneys do use breakered switches, in other words, the switches also act as a circuit breaker. The TE / Potter&Brumfield W31 series switches are a popular choice for breakered toggle switches in GA.

I'm afraid there is no "easy" adjustment of the nomenclature lighting; the only way to get them to a brighter level is to input a higher voltage at J2 Connector, Pins #6 and 7, ideally controlled via the lighting rheostat. Assuming your M20C uses a 14V system, when 0 volts is applied to J2 pins 6 & 7, then nomenclature lighting is off, but at 12 volts, nomenclature lighting is a full intensity. I'm not sure what exactly your J2 Pins 6 & 7 are connected to, but I have noticed not many avionics installers out there are thoroughly diligent with regards to properly hooking up the avio

Unless I'm going crazy ... don't GTN's all have a physical -D-> key?

A couple of questions pop into mind: Was the red X only over the attitude indicator or did it fail both attitude and heading? Did the failure follow any other anomalies or occur during any significant weather (e.g. gusty winds, turbulence)? From my experiences as an avionics tech, the Aspen devices constantly cross-check between all the primary flight info (i.e. airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, heading, pitch & bank, slip/skid, etc.) and if one or some of these parameters seem out of whack, then the unit will fail the "reasonability test" and will consequently fail the e

I am facing a similar issue, classified as "heavy seep" per Mooney Mx Manual, in the very same spots as you mentioned, plus a few more locations. The owner of the plane has a slot scheduled with a resealing shop later this year, but I'm not sure if the plane will hold up until then. As an A&P, I'm heavily considering doing some local repairs myself, but the Mx Manual doesn't seem to mention any precautions on purging out the wing of vapors. Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but having heard of some horror stories, the last thing I want is a wing exploding in my face. For those that did this